A virtual queue formed on the Internet in the hours before the planned release of Windows 7 "beta" software at noon local time in Microsoft’s headquarters in Washington State. <\/p>\n
"There was a line of people waiting online, so the noon release became an about-noon release," said a Microsoft spokesperson showing off the company’s latest innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. <\/p>\n
A flood of requests slowed Microsoft industrial-strength computers, causing delays and disappointments. <\/p>\n
The window for downloading the test-version of Windows 7 closes the last day of January, Microsoft said. <\/p>\n
The software giant wants feedback from users to refine the new operating system, but doesn’t plan to change or add features. <\/p>\n
"We got ourselves in a little trouble with Windows Vista; it became a bag of mixed things and didn’t really figure out what it was about," said Mike Ybarra, general manager of Windows products at Microsoft. <\/p>\n
"There was a lot of feature creep. You had people saying ‘Let’s change this and that.’ Windows 7 has been very disciplined." <\/p>\n
Analyst Michael Cherry of private firm Directions On Microsoft says he is impressed with the way the software giant "kept its enthusiasm under control". <\/p>\n
Microsoft improved the Vista operating system while making sure it is "backward compatible," essentially that it will work with older software. <\/p>\n
Vista was such an advance over Windows XP that it clashed with software people already used and previous generation computers. <\/p>\n
"Microsoft is making the kind of evolutionary changes they need without the revolutionary changes that break things," Cherry said. <\/p>\n
Microsoft has been secretive about when a finished version of Windows 7 will be ready. <\/p>\n
Windows 7 will streamline everyday tasks, cut boot-up times, extend battery life and make it simple to weave "smart" devices into home networks, according to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. <\/p>\n
Windows 7 also lets users customize a "ribbon" panel at the base of a computer screen with icons for programs and files they want to quickly access. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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